"IBS" 2003 Obituary

IBS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-01-03 published
Virtuoso possessed 'nerves of steel'
Ontario trumpeter and music professor renowned for his recordings
and his mentoring
By Sol CHROMFriday,January 3, 2003, Page R11
He could make his trumpet sing like an angel, but he was not
above taking a hacksaw to it. When Erik
SCHULTZ died of cancer
last month at the age of 50, Canadian music lost a virtuoso player,
a teacher and mentor, a prolific recording and performing artist,
and a man renowned among colleagues as a consummate professional.
A member of the music faculty at the University of Western Ontario,
Prof. SCHULTZ also made several concert tours of Europe and founded
an independent recording label for Canadian musicians. He held
positions with Canadian orchestras in Calgary, Hamilton, London,
Ontario, Toronto, and Windsor, Ontario He also established an
international reputation with an extensive repertoire of recordings
of his own, specializing in music of the Baroque period.
Prof. SCHULTZ's musicianship and professionalism were noted by
numerous colleagues, both in academia and in the performing arts.
CanadianBroadcastingCorporation broadcaster Keith
HORNER, who
worked on several recordings and radio programs with him, recalled
his "bright, clear, ringing tone." Mr.
HORNER praised Prof.
SCHULTZ
for his expertise with the piccolo trumpet, which he described
as a very difficult instrument to master.
"It requires nerves of steel," he said. "With Erik, you didn't
hear the work in it. He made it sound effortless -- and that
was all smoke and mirrors, because it takes a great deal of physical
effort."
Prof. SCHULTZ may have been known best for a series of albums
he recorded with organist Jan
OVERDUIN.
The recordings were made
in Kitchener, Ontario, and
in Germany, and were issued both on
vinyl and on compact disc. The two musicians first teamed up
in Europe, where they were both touring in the mid-1980s, setting
the stage for a collaboration that lasted until Prof.
SCHULTZ's
death.
In an interview from Waterloo, Ontario, Prof.
OVERDUIN recalled
his colleague as an enthusiastic participant in all kinds of
musical events, both amateur and professional. "He would just
transform the whole experience," Prof.
OVERDUIN said. "There
were times when I just stood in awe -- he'd be communicating
with the audience on a level that was just beyond us."
Prof. OVERDUIN also cited his friend's commitment to musicianship,
often displayed under rather trying circumstances. On one European
tour, a delayed flight to Portugal saw them arrive in Lisbon
with very little time to prepare for a concert. The difficulty
was heightened by the fact that both musicians had gotten quite
sick and had to find a doctor in Lisbon who could prescribe antibiotics.
And many performances in Europe, Prof.
OVERDUIN said, were staged
in old churches wherein the temperature or tuning of the organ
posed their own special challenges. Since the organs couldn't
be moved or modified, Prof.
SCHULTZ would have to make adjustments
to the pitch of his trumpet. Frequently this would require him
to carry extra mouthpieces or lengths of tubing, but even that
wasn't always enough.
"One day he had to get a hacksaw and physically saw out a piece
of the trumpet," Prof.
OVERDUIN recalled. "These were historic
organs -- I would have a wonderful time, but it could be difficult
too. [Sometimes] they would have weird historical temperaments,
but he would adjust immediately."
Prof. SCHULTZ's commitment to music extended beyond his own career,
however. In 1993, he and his father started
IBSRecordings, a
label for independent Canadian artists, eventually releasing
more than three dozen titles. Flutist Fiona
WILKINSON, one of
Prof. SCHULTZ's colleagues at University of Western Ontario,
recorded for the label as a member of the Aeolian Winds, and
praised him for his generosity. Having established his own international
recording career with the German label
EBS, she said, he used
IBS to support and nurture the initial careers of Canadian musicians.
"He would interview and audition artists and take on projects
that he felt deserved to be known."
"He positioned it as a discovery label," Mr.
HORNER said. "He
was ambitious -- he was looking for a recording studio so that
he could have some control over sound quality."
Prof. WILKINSON also praised Prof.
SCHULTZ for his collegiality.
He raised the bar for the people he worked with, she said, acting
as a role model for students and colleagues. "He had incredibly
high standards. Everything he touched had to meet them."
But Prof. WILKINSON also remembered Prof.
SCHULTZ for his sense
of humour, and the real-world experience he brought to his teaching
and academic work. "He knew what it was like to be 'out there,'
" she said, "and he brought that back to the students."
Even with his illness, Prof.
SCHULTZ never lost his enthusiasm
for performing.
"He lost his voice, and couldn't talk on the phone, but he could
still play," Prof.
OVERDUIN recalled, noting that Prof.
SCHULTZ
still played at convocations last June. "It hurts me to think
we'll never play again."
Erik SCHULTZ leaves his wife
Kelly, his children Daniel, David
and Nicole, and two sisters.
Erik SCHULTZ, musician and teacher; born in Hamilton, Ontario,
August 29, 1952; died in London, Ontario, December 1, 2002.